


sheltered in dust and ash

by jolybird



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Minor Courfeyrac/Marius Pontmercy, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26867263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolybird/pseuds/jolybird
Summary: In the aftermath of his grandfather's death, Marius, Théodule and Courfeyrac begin to go through the contents of the Gillenormand château. Inside, they find more memories than they bargained for on a Friday night.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	sheltered in dust and ash

**Author's Note:**

> Day! Six! of [the Miserables Month](https://themiserablesmonth.tumblr.com). The prompt is riches which immediately made me think of pictures and family and friends.

Marius, Théodule and Courfeyrac stood in the doorway of the Pontmercy château and, honestly, Marius had a stomachache. His grandfather had been dead for a week already and Marius, his cousin and his Aunt were the heirs to the entire place. It was surprisingly civil of his grandfather to leave the house to the three of them in equal parts. Marius had honestly been shocked when his name was included. True he, sort of made up with his Grandfather in recent years, in the loosest possible sense, but he didn’t think his grandfather let go of perceived slights against him so easily. It was possibly that Théodule, the lawyer of the family, had done that when his grandfather wasn’t looking. He and Aunt Ninon hadn’t looked very shocked when his grandfather’s attorney read their names off. The three of them had been of the same mind for years that they would sell it and split the money. It had mostly been jokes but when you were in situations like this, with entire empty dusty houses in front of you, jokes are what you had to fall back on. 

Marius had vague plans to convince his aunt and cousin to sell it at a discount to some sort of organization but the first thing they had to do was empty the rooms and sort through the belongings. 

It was easier said than done. For someone with more enemies than friends, who ostracized his family until it dwindled down to three, his grandfather had a lot of things. In the years before Marius was born there were big holidays and gatherings hosted but those memories were only held by dusty mirrors and drafty windowpanes. 

Marius had planned on coming alone but the moment he mentioned where he was going that morning, Courfeyrac had whipped out his phone and called out sick from work. He said he had to take advantage of when Théodule was in Paris. Marius didn’t know what he meant and he wasn’t going to ask. It was best to have plausible deniability. 

“Marius—I found something for you!” Théodule shouted from somewhere deep in the house. 

Marius looked to Courfeyrac and sighed, rolling his eyes a little. Whatever it was it probably wasn’t going to be good and it was certainly going to be embarrassing. 

Courfeyrac grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the hall. Marius almost twisted his hand around so they could lace their fingers together but Courfeyrac was being an amazing friend right now, he shouldn't embarrass him. “Alright, where is the little weasel.”

Part of the reason Marius never inquired about Courfeyrac’s interest in seeing his cousin was that he was afraid Courfeyrac just wanted an excuse to beat the shit out of him. Marius didn’t dislike his cousin, he minded his own business as Marius did his. 

Theodule wasn’t in any of the rooms on the first floor and Courfeyrac dragged him up the stairs without hesitation. “I can’t believe you kept quiet about this place. Well—no—I can.” He ran his free hand over the railing and looked down the stairs behind them without breaking his pace. “I wonder if you could slide down the banister?” 

Marius didn’t say anything because that was exactly why Courfeyrac hadn’t known about the chateau. Well, that and his grandfather probably would have been so affronted with Courfeyrac that he would have died on the spot for the theatrics. 

Actually, the two weren’t that different when it came to the level of theatrics they were willing to go through to make a point. Not the way or the reasoning behind it just...the lengths they were willing to go were both great. Marius puffed out his cheek, the chateau was quiet, lit only by the hallway lights and the windows in the guest rooms. Théodule must have opened all the windows when he arrived that morning (or last night, the details hadn’t been clear). 

“Oh excellent.” Courfeyrac said and Marius knew the next words from his mouth were not going to be excellent. “He’s started in the attic.” 

He let go of Marius’ wrist and took off towards the stairway that led to the attic. Marius had actually never been up those stairs. When he was a boy, he used to hold his breath when he passed them for fear of making spirits jealous of the air in his lungs. Courfeyrac bounded up the stairs like he was in the opening of a horror movie so Marius had no choice but to follow him. If they were to go down like this, they would go down together. 

The attic was dusty and alarmingly so. When he made it to the landing, he sneezed, and then again. Things were packed in every inch of the room, dressers and mirror and trunks. Théodule knelt in front of an old trunk, piles already surrounded him--clothes and kitchenware and books. 

“I think this was yours.” Théodule said, holding up an ugly baby stuffed ostrich. “There’s a blanket here too. Someone embroidered your name on it.” 

“Oh.” Marius said, holding out his hand for the ostrich but Courfeyrac beat him to it. He held it up to the light. 

“This is adorable.” He said, before handing it off to Marius. He brushed the tuff of hair atop its head back and tried to recall any memories of it. There wasn’t much wear and tear but that didn’t mean anything. From a very young age, his grandfather taught him it was better to be seen and not heard and to keep his hands to himself. His grandfather had loved him and he loved him as well but they...didn’t see eye to eye and when Marius was young he didn’t have anywhere else to go. Partially because his grandfather had sued his father for custody of him and then told Marius his father was dead but still, his grandfather had been his most constant companion as a child. Marius realized his grip on the ostrich was tight and he forced himself to ease up. 

“Monsieur de Courfeyrac.” Théodule said to Courfeyrac as if noticing him for the first time. 

“Monsieur Gillenormand.” Courfeyrac replied in the same exact tone. 

For a moment it was silent and Marius glanced up to see the two of them. They were glaring but there was something of a grin on both of their faces. See, it was no wonder he had no idea where they stood with each other. 

Something crashed in the far side of the attic and there was a scurrying sound that caused them all to flinch. Théodule slammed the trunk shut, causing them all to flinch again. 

“That was either a raccoon or a ghost so…” Théodule said and, although Marius was the first down the stairs, the other two were right behind him. 

“The attic was too optimistic a start.” Courfeyrac frowned down at Théodule who glared but shut the door firmly behind him. Marius had missed it but they both carried armfuls of books. 

“Library?” His cousin said, holding up the books. 

“Library.” Courfeyrac and Marius agreed at the same time and Marius led the way so the other two didn’t have to see his blush. 

* * *

Marius would give up his rights to the rest of the house if it meant he could keep the library. His grandfather was the image of conservative but the library didn’t reflect his beliefs at all. There were at least a thousand books in the library but with the way the shelves wrapped around the room, there was probably honestly more. Just going through his grandfather’s collection was going to be a feat and a half. He should call Jehan and Combeferre. There was a frightfully early edition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and a collectors edition of The Bell Jar. In the corner of one of the shelves was a small collection of feminist literature from the 90’s. Seeing _Slut!: Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation_ had nearly given Marius heart palpitations and the whole stack of books went into a pile with his name on it. Courfeyrac had brought a stack of post it notes with Victorian insults on them and Marius was using them to help organize the books. Some would be donated, some were actually worth a fair bit and would be sold, and a worryingly large amount of them had Marius’ own name on them. He didn’t have room for all of them in his and Courfeyrac’s flat but his friends would probably be interested in some of them. 

Théodule tapped the stack of feminist books, “I think these are your mothers.” 

Marius opened the book on top and nearly dropped it to the ground when he saw his mother’s handwriting. He and Théodule flipped through the pages, “she was worse than Grantaire.” Marius muttered, there was hardly a page without her opinion on it and Marius looked up to the unassuming shelf these books had been sitting on for the last thirty years. His mother had been here all along and he hadn’t known. 

“Take those back with you tonight. I’ll go get you a bag right now.” Théodule said and left the room. He was older than him by a handful of years and had real, concrete memories of Marius’ mother. They were full of ice cream and staying up past bedtime. The memories featured Marius as well but secondhand memories weren’t quite his mother’s own words and thoughts. He put the book back down on the pile because if he held it any longer he didn’t know if he would be able to let it go without reading it through. 

“Holy shit, Marius. Get your ass over here.” Courfeyrac’s voice was tinged with panic and he nearly vaulted over the chair and desk to get to him. 

“If it’s a rat you don’t want him to know about it.” Théodule said as he came back with an old canvas bag in his hand. Marius had to do a double take because that was an l’ABC bag from last a fundraiser last Christmas. 

Courfeyrac didn’t look up from where he was leaning over a stack of boxes. “No come here too, look what was in the back of this cabinet. It was absolutely covered in dust and so I had to look and...wow.” 

Marius knelt down next to him and saw that he was holding pictures in his hand. “Oh no.” He muttered, images of crime scenes and having to call the police to report decade old crime flashed through his mind. 

The pictures didn’t look intimidating though, they were of a small child, a man who was oddly familiar. For a second he thought they had just discovered missing family members and then he saw the woman with the scar across the bridge of her nose. His mother and— _oh_. 

Courfeyrac looked up, grinning. “Remember how there are scarily no pictures of Marius when he was a baby?”

Théodule dropped to his knees and took a handful from the box. “Jesus.” 

“This is my father.” Marius said, holding the picture up so Courfeyrac and Théodule could see. 

“Oh he’s hot.” Courfeyrac said in exactly the same tone Marius thought he was going to. Marius grinned and turned the picture back to him so he could look at it. He grinned, fairly certain he hadn’t seen anything as wonderful as this ever before in his life. 

“That rock bottom bastard.” Théodule murmured, taking a picture of Marius’ mother with her head tilted back and laughing from Courfeyrac’s hands. There was a baby perched on her lap but given the fact she was pregnant, it had to be him and not Marius. “I have literally never seen a picture of Aunt Katia pregnant before.”

Courfeyrac had opened one box but he gave it to Marius who continued flipping through the pictures like they were his oxygen. Courfeyrac handed another box to Théodule and opened a third himself. Each contained years worth of pictures. 

“Marius--I think these are your father’s--” Théodule leaned forward to show him and nearly knocked the entire box to the floor in the process. They were older pictures, some in black and white of people who were strangers save for a glint in their eye, a twist of their lips. 

His family. His father’s family. Hidden in a cabinet under the bookshelves he traced his fingers along when he was growing up. He had searched for company in the spines of the books but his family was tucked away beneath years of dust at his feet all along. 

“Did we never go in these cabinets?” Marius asked, unable to look away. His mother was kissing his father’s cheek at an amusement park. His father was holding Théodule’s legs as Théodule’s father held his arms and they swung him towards a pile of blankets on a bed. Théodule was blurry between them. 

There were other people and names written in pencil on the back, Ambre and Cybille and Alain and Legrand. His father’s family, or friends? Someone had taken the time to write their names down so they must be important. 

Marius let his hands rest on the edge of the box and he took a deep, steadying breath. After a lifetime of having no one, seeing these faces was a little overwhelming. Courfeyrac and Théodule said nothing of his respite and instead just flipped through pictures silently, sometimes putting some into a pile that they then wordlessly put in Marius’ box. If there was any sort of order at all, they were ruining it. But who was to care but them? These memories were theirs and theirs alone. 

With a discovery like that, it wasn’t any wonder that they accomplished nothing else before it was time to drive back to Paris. It was only a half hour so it wasn’t terrible but it was worth it to have a break from his childhood. The house had to go but it was...bittersweet being inside those walls knowing that soon they were going to become memory. He almost wanted to get it over as quickly as possible, rip it off like a bandaid, 

Théodule vanished up to his old room without so much as a goodnight but that was just how he was. Marius heard from him more via postcards and instagram comments than face to face conversations. 

Marius and Courfeyrac paused to look around as they stood by the front door, bundled up in their coats and books and pictures. Courfeyrac had stuffed Marius’ baby blanket and ostrich in his backpack and had made sure that the ostrich’s head was sticking out so it could see where they were going. 

“Thank you for coming with me.” Marius smiled and Courfeyrac reached out and pulled him close. He tucked his head under his chin and kissed the top of his head. 

“Of course. I would have been here even if you didn’t want me. I’ll come back with you tomorrow and Sunday as well, there’s so much _stuff_ here.” 

Marius almost blurted out that he would probably always want him but caught himself at the last second. Now was the time to say goodbye to old things, not start something new. 

Courfeyrac didn’t seem to notice because he continued on, “If you’re serious about getting some of these things out, I can call my family and see who’s free. Plus, you know, _our friends_ but my brothers and sisters would jump at the chance to meet you. Maman keeps threatening me to bring you around for dinner but you keep weaseling your way out.” 

“Honestly, I would love to see your family here.” Marius confessed with a laugh. It was true, he had met the majority of Courfeyrac’s family already and they were all loud and warm and nothing like these halls. 

“I’m sure you could convince them to pay hide and seek. And tag and a whole slew of games you were never allowed to.” Courfeyrac grinned. 

“Okay.” Marius said with a smile, like that had convinced him. “Whoever’s available. I’ll text our friends as well.”

Courfeyrac glanced at him with an eyebrow raised so Marius called his bluff and opened the group chat. He explained what had happened and what they needed help with and then hit send before he could second guess himself. 

Immediately Jehan texted back that he’d be at their flat bright and early with pastries for the car ride back down. 

Enjolras texted second, offering his car as well. Feuilly would bring his camera to take pictures of what they wanted to sell which prompted Jehan to call dibs on any old books. Courfeyrac chimed in at that point that they had already set some aside for him which set everyone off on why Courfeyrac had been invited tonight and not them. Marius texted that Courfeyrac had invited himself and then put his phone in his pocket. 

Courfeyrac laughed as he read the text on his phone and Marius suddenly felt guilty. “I’m glad you came. I’m serious. I mean--who knows how long it would have taken us to find the pictures without you.” 

“I’m glad I came too. I think we should make a photo album of the pictures, maybe have some enlarged so we can hang them up. Théo’s already made me promise to scan them in so he can have copies and you should send them to your Aunt as well. Is she going to grace us with her presence this weekend?” 

Marius shook his head, “not this weekend. She said she wanted nothing to do with this place.” 

“Okay I’m going to take that as she’s going to show up uninvited.” 

Marius only pulled him into a tight hug and then before he could talk himself out of it, stood on his toes and kissed his cheek. Courfeyrac grinned at him, absolutely delighted, and Marius ducked his head and smiled. 

“So.” Theodule said, walking down the stairs while slinging his bag over his shoulder. “I won’t sleep in this place another night so if it’s alright with you, I’ll go back to Paris and crash on your couch.” 

“Is it haunted?” Courfeyrac asked, hand on his hips. 

Théodule opened the front door and pulled out the keys to lock it behind them. “If it was, I’d invite you to stay the night. No, I really think there’s raccoons or something. Squirrels.” 

“Ghost squirrels?” Courfeyrac led the way to the car, he was carrying some of the books and wasn’t complaining. Marius already knew how he was going to rearrange his bookshelf to make them fit. 

Théodule opened the back door of Courfeyrac’s car and threw his things inside. “You wouldn’t be joking if you’d had been here last night.” 

“Ghost squirrels?” Courfeyrac laughed again, putting the books and pictures into the trunk and shutting the door with a bang that echoed. Marius ignored the both of them to sit in the front and try to come up with some kind of plan for the morning. The group chat was clamoring for order that Marius didn't have, and quite honestly, didn't think they were capable of. 

“Marius, tell your boyfriend he can stay here and we’ll go back to Paris alone.” Théodule told him and Marius’ fingers froze on the screen.

  
Courfeyrac laughed and climbed into the driver’s seat as Théodule shut the back door and slide into the middle so he could pester the both of them equally. “Marius would never abandon me to a giant house in the middle of nowhere.” 

“We’re only a half hours outside Paris, it’s hardly the middle of nowhere.” Théodule muttered. Marius glanced at the mirror, and the dark house reflected in it. He had looked out at this driveway so many times when he was younger, dreaming of what it would be like to have friends and a family that could spread out over the grounds. Courfeyrac put his hand on Marius’ knee and squeezed it lightly to get his attention. He raised his eyebrows, silently asking if he was okay. 

Marius grinned at him, and then to Théodule in the back, before he looked back to his phone where Bossuet and Enjolras were arguing about if you needed to stop for snacks during a half hour car ride. “I’m fine.” He said quietly and then Théodule and Courfeyrac started making plans for a late dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> I like writing Marius because I tend to have him not assume anything and he always thinks he's less important to people than he actually is. Courfeyrac and Théodule 100% text all the time and a solid 50% of it is "when the hell are you going to ask my cousin out what is wrong with you". Marius is the only person in the world who calls Théodule by his full name. It's a source of endless frustration on his part, Courfeyrac thinks it's hilarious and ALWAYS catches Théodule's eye when Marius says it. 
> 
> Saturday night ends with everyone sleeping over and there is a minor national emergency when they all get woken up by whatever is in the attic. They get no sleep after that and Jehan and one of Courfeyrac's sisters try to hold a séance to get in contact with the ghost of raccoons/squirrels past. It all comes to a head when Marius and Théodule's aunt shows up at the break of dawn and for a solid couple of seconds they think they've actually summoned a spirit. Also Courfeyrac's parents are 100% here and 100% egging everyone on before they shut the door and go back to bed. 
> 
> This got a little long because I always have a lot to say about family and memories and pictures. We have some old pictures of my great grandfather's family (which includes my great great grandfather and possible great great great grandfather) hanging behind the washing machine so I think about strangers with my father's eyes a lot and I dumped a lot of it on Marius in this fic lol.
> 
> Also! I hc Marius mother as cooler than literally everyone else so there's that.


End file.
